A New Zealand shopping chain has withdrawn a brand of Australian strawberries from sale after needles were found in the fruit sold at an Auckland supermarket.
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Countdown supermarkets have pulled the Western Australia-sourced Choice strawberries from shelves after the discovery and is in contact with both New Zealand and Australian authorities.
The Choice brand strawberries were sold across New Zealand during the week and have now been withdrawn in the latest blow for Australian strawberry farmers struggling to cope with millions of dollars of damage done to their industry.
"At Countdown we take food safety very seriously and we have withdrawn any remaining Choice strawberries from sale from Countdown, SuperValue and FreshChoice supermarkets while we investigate this with our suppliers," a statement from the supermarket chain issued on Sunday afternoon said.
"Customers can return any Choice brand of strawberries they may have at home to Countdown for peace of mind and a full refund."
There were no reports of injury or illness from the sabotage in New Zealand. Countdown noted the brand had not been withdrawn from sale in Australia, where there had been no similar reports.
The chain advised consumers to cut up strawberries before eating them.
A spokeswoman for the Queensland Police Service, which has been heading the national investigation into sabotage reports, could not confirm if police had been contacted over the new report.
Consumers have rallied around strawberry producers nationally after weeks of health warnings following needles discovered in three Queensland brands - Berry Licious, Berry Obsession and Donnybrook.
After an initial drop in sales and thousands of tonnes of fresh strawberries destroyed or dumped by producers after ongoing recalls, many farms in Queensland and WA reported customers turning up to the farm gate to hand-pick their own strawberries.
The damage caused by the sabotage prompted Prime Minister Scott Morrison to announce a 10 to 15 year maximum prison sentence for food tampering offences, calling the perpetrator a "grub".
Increasing reports of needles discovered in strawberries sparked a national recall on several strawberry brands, as Woolworths also pulled needles from its shelves.
Agriculture bodies have called repeatedly for calm and a coordinated response to the ongoing problem, concerned for the long-term financial impacts on farmers around Australia.
The first instance of strawberry sabotage on September 9 involved a Queensland man who ate a strawberry with a sewing needle inside.
In the weeks since there have been more than 100 reports, many unconfirmed, of contaminated strawberries and other fruit and the Queensland government approved a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
On Friday, Queensland police and Queensland Health said the investigation was still focused on just a small number of confirmed reports of needle sabotage, while many other incidents were suspected to be copycat actions.
QPS Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said there were more than 100 police officers involved in the investigation in Queensland alone.
NSW police reported more than 20 incidents of contamination in NSW since September 12, but those were all believed to be copycat reports not connected to the initial contamination in Queensland.
